Reading Reflection 1

I was taken aback when I began reading "Teaching Hope stories from The Freedom Writer Teachers and Erin Gruwell", I was expecting a somewhat educational book on some sort of stories that teachers had compiled trying to be inspirational, leaving out essential points that, "crap happens". I read the foreward, preface, and introduction, loving the wording that has invited me to read this book not just for inspiration but for a "reality" of teaching. Students are not just children by another name but instead are individuals that deserve the same respect we as teachers and adults want as well. The reality of balancing me a teacher and having a life outside the classroom comes through not only in the beginning of the book but throughout the first section entitled "Anticipation". The start of this book was already giving me a want to read more.

Reading through the first section of the book, I found myself not just connecting to the stories but wishing I could read more from each entry, from each teacher, from each caring person. An overall theme of the section that stood out to me was "questioning", questioning yourself, your abilities, your job, and at times your sanity to be in the teaching profession. One line that stood out for me was on the first few pages, "The first lesson I learned from my students is that I'm up against their past, present, and future." (pg. 4) This first section really echoed the idea that when students arrive in your classroom you don't just have their lives cut, the 2 hours a day you see them or their current age. You are battling or working with their entire lives up until they walk into the class and the life they will lead after they walk out. Making a connection early on to the students not just as those "kids who sit in your room" but as "individuals" is crucial.

Throughout the section I struggled with the ideas that kept coming up about society's, the specific community's role, and their influence on students. What is the world around these children, teaching them? The students in my classroom are, no matter how many may disagree, a reflection of the society in which they live- "the beliefs and expectations" (pg. 11) And as such it is more than academics that should be taught in the classroom. As teachers, we should be teaching them life lessons not just who wrote the "Great Gatsby". Many teachers come from a troubled background or situations similar to their students. The major plus that they possess is that they battled the rough times and came out, even if not always on top, but made it to teach others how they should have been taught or how to empower themselves.

Although the teachers' stories revealed that they had a connection to their students' trouble past and present, finding a way to convey is not always easy. But learning from these stories, uncovers the idea that in order to learn, a little bit of discomfort isn't a bad thing. Some of the greatest lessons can be learned when a person, teacher or student is uncomfortable. And even when students ask tough questions, teachers have to remember "the only thing scarier than the questions would have been if they didn't have anyone to answer them at all." Reading this first section of the book made me want to read so much more! I loved the stories, as raw, truthful, and caring people, these teachers genuinely want others to be able to learn and grow not just from their successes but from their mistakes.